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 France |  Israel |
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| Embassy of France,Tel Aviv | Embassy of Israel,Paris |
France–Israel relations are the bilateral ties between theFrench Republic and theState of Israel. In the early 1950s, the two countries maintained close political and military ties. France was Israel's main weapons supplier until theFrench withdrawal from Algeria in 1962. Three days before the outbreak of theSix-Day War in 1967, the government ofCharles de Gaulle imposed an arms embargo on the region, mostly affecting Israel.[1]
UnderFrançois Mitterrand in the early 1980s, bilateral relations improved greatly. Mitterrand was the first French president to visit Israel while in office.[2] AfterJacques Chirac was elected as president in 1995, France's relationship with Israel declined due to his support forYasser Arafat during the first stages of theSecond Intifada.[3] After being elected as president in May 2007,Nicolas Sarkozy said that he would refuse to greet any world leader who does notrecognize Israel's right to exist.[4] Relations continued to warm since 2017, under the presidency ofEmmanuel Macron,[citation needed] until he stopped the flow of French weaponry to Israel and encouraged others to do so in a conference on 5 October 2024.[5][6][7]
Napoleon, the first and second Emperor of theFirst French Empire, declared emancipation by his decree allowing Jews to be free to worship their religion and prohibit any kind of persecution on Jewish people, and he obtained the title as a liberator.[8][9] He remains highly respected by Jews even after the establishment of Israel.[10]
TheDreyfus affair between 1894 and 1906 was the first and rather bitter connection between the Zionist Movement and France. The ousting of a Jewish French officer in a modern European state motivatedTheodor Herzl in organizing theFirst Zionist Congress and pledging for a home for the Jews in 1897. During the fourthZionist Congress in London in 1900, Herzl said in his speech there that "...there is no necessity for justifying the holding the Congress in London. England is one of the last remaining places on earth where there is freedom from anti-Jewish hatred." While the British Government began to recognize the importance and validity of the Zionist movement, the French remained absent. Bonds between the Zionist Movement and France strengthened during Germany's occupation of France in World War II due to the common German enemy.[11]
The1922 census of Palestine lists 716 French speakers inMandatory Palestine (3 in the Southern District, 497 in Jerusalem-Jaffa, 3 in Samaria, and 213 in the Northern District), including 715 in municipal areas (261 inJerusalem, 70 inJaffa, 123 inHaifa, 2 inGaza, 1 inHebron, 120 inNablus, 72 inNazareth, 2 inRamleh, 6 inTiberias, 46 inBethlehem, 3 inAcre, 4 inRamallah, 2 inBeit Jala, and 3 inShafa 'Amr).[12]
I had forecast that once theAlgerian War was over, France would drop Israel like a hot coal and renew its ties with the Arab world. And that, of course, is exactly what happened –Israel adopted the US instead.
After France's liberation by Allied forces,David Ben-Gurion was confident thatCharles de Gaulle would assist him in the founding of a Jewish state. On 12 January 1949 France recognized the existence of Israel and supported the decision for Israel to join the United Nations. In 1953 France started selling French weapons to Israel and became one of its closest allies and supporters.[citation needed] France then shared with Israel a strategic interest against radical Arab nationalism, as it had to cope with nationalist sentiment in its Algerian territories. During the late 1950s France supplied Israel with theMirage - Israel's most advanced aircraft to date and their first cutting edge combat aircraft.
In October 1957 an agreement was signed between France and Israel about the construction of the nuclear power plant in Israel, which was completed in 1963. Future Israeli PresidentShimon Peres was the politician who brokered the deal. InMichael Karpin's 2001 documentaryA Bomb in the Basement, Abel Thomas, chief of political staff for France's defense minister at the time said Francis Perrin, head of the French Atomic Energy Commission, advised then-Prime MinisterGuy Mollet that Israel should be provided with a nuclear bomb. According to the documentary, France provided Israel with a nuclear reactor and staff to set it up in Israel together with enriched uranium and the means to produce plutonium in exchange for support in the Suez War.[14][15]
TheSuez Crisis of 1956 marked a watershed for Israeli-French relations.[16][17] Israel, France and the United Kingdom had conspired for control of theSuez Canal.[16][18] Israel initiated a surprise invasion of Egypt, followed by theUnited Kingdom andFrance. The aims were to regain Western control of the Suez Canal and to remove Egyptian PresidentGamal Abdel Nasser from power,[19] as well as reopening theStraits of Tiran to Israeli shipping and stop Egyptian-sponsoredfedayeen raids into Israel.[20] After the fighting had started, theUnited States, theSoviet Union, and theUnited Nations forced Britain and France to withdraw. Israel wisely held out a few more months until the establishment ofUNEF, which ensured freedom of navigation for Israel of theStraits of Tiran.
In 1960, Ben-Gurion arrived in France for Israel's first official visit. In the 1960s, with the expulsion of France from North Africa completed in 1962, the shared strategic interest against Arab nationalism dissipated, leading France to take a more conciliatory attitude toward the Arab nations and a correspondingly harsher tone toward Israel. Work on the nuclear reactor, however, continued with French help.
France imposed an arms embargo on Israel before the beginning of theSix-Day War. After the embargo theIsraeli Air Force was severely limited in long-term strategic planning and capability, as the embargo caused a shortage in spare parts for most of Israel's French fighter aircraft, which were highly advanced at the time. According to the New York Times, "this double game, however, ended when the Six-Day War in 1967 forced France to pick a side. In a shock to its Israeli allies, it chose the Arab states: despite aggressive moves by Egypt, France imposed a temporary arms embargo on the region — which mostly hurt Israel — and warned senior Israeli officials to avoid hostilities."[21]
The change of sides impaired as well the French-American relationship, as France was seen as an increasingly outdated and aggressive neocolonial power. The USA started to assume its current role as an ally of Israel with the Six-Day War in 1967, while France decided to take sides with the Arab world to improve its relations after the independence of Algeria.[21]
Until the Six-Day War, France was the main supplier of Israel's weapons. Just before the Six-Day War in June 1967,Charles de Gaulle's government imposed an arms embargo on the region, mostly affecting Israel.[1] In 1969, de Gaulle retired and Israel hoped that new presidentGeorges Pompidou would bring about better relations, but Pompidou continued the weapons embargo, straining the relations once again.
In 1981François Mitterrand was elected 21stPresident of the French Republic. Mitterrand was the first left-wing head of state since 1957 and was considered a friend of theJewish people and a lover of theBible. In 1982 he visited Israel and spoke in the Israeli parliament, theKnesset.
Both Israel and France deployed their armed forces to Lebanon during theLebanese Civil War.
In 2006 French exports to Israel rose to €683 million ($1.06 billion). France is Israel's 11th-greatest supplier of goods and represents Israel's ninth-largest market. France's main export items aremotor vehicles,plastics,organic chemicals,aeronautical andspace engineering products,perfumes andcosmetics.[22] The second-largest percentage of tourists that visit Israel come from France.[23]
On February 13, 2008, French presidentNicolas Sarkozy spoke at the annual dinner of the French JewishCRIF (Conseil Représentatif des Institutions juives de France). The address was seen as a sign of newfound warmth between France'sÉlysée Palace and French Jewry, whose place in French society has been shaken in recent years following a surge in anti-Semitic attacks. "Israel can count on a new dynamic to its relationship with the European Union", said Sarkozy. "France will never compromise on Israel's security."
Israel welcomed Sarkozy's tough stance against theIran-backed Hamas and Iran-backedHezbollah. During the 2006 Lebanon War, France played a key role in Europe's efforts to get a quick ceasefire.[24]
On 30 June 2009, Sarkozy urged Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu to dismiss Israeli Foreign MinisterAvigdor Lieberman from his post, saying "You have to get rid of that man. You need to remove him from this position.”[25]
In January 2016 French Foreign MinisterLaurent Fabius announced that France would convene an international conference with the objective of enabling new Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. He said, however, that if these talks were unsuccessful, then France would recognize a Palestinian state.[26][27] Israeli officials rejected what was considered an ultimatum, while Israeli opposition leaders said the French threat to recognize Palestine was triggered by the current Israeli government's failed diplomacy.[28] France had yet to recognize Palestine.
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As the Turkish–French rift increased following French PresidentEmmanuel Macron's criticism ofIslamistterrorism, Turkish PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdoğan compared the treatment of Muslims in Europe to Nazi treatment of Jews inWorld War II. This statement was condemned by Israel, which pointed out the Turkish government's lack of solidarity following the murder of French teacherSamuel Paty and accused the Turkish government of misrepresenting the situation. It further described the differences between Nazi policy in World War II and the French response to terrorism.[29] Israel and France, along with Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Greece, Cyprus and Egypt, have also recently worked against Turkey on various fronts from itstreatment of Kurds to theconflicts in Libya and theSyrian civil war.[30][31][32]
In 2020, Macron argued thatanti-Zionism is a form ofanti-Semitism, elaborating that it "doesn’t mean it becomes impossible to have disagreements, to criticize this or that action by the Israeli government, but negating its existence today is clearly a contemporary form of anti-Semitism".[33]
In October 2023, French President Macron condemnedHamas' actions during theGaza war, and expressed his support forIsrael and its right to self-defense.[34][35]
In a speech in May 2024,Gabriel Attal, at the time the French Prime Minister, defended Israel and its actions in Gaza. He also criticized Israel's opponents, calling opposition to Israel anti-Semitic, and said that he considered French society to be incomplete without Jews.[36]
On 15 June 2024, France banned Israeli defence companies from exhibiting at theEurosatory arms fair over the latter'songoing war in Gaza. TheJerusalem Post reported that the District Court in France also prohibited "any Israeli citizen or intermediary of an Israeli business".[37][38]
On 17 June 2024 according to theIsraeli Defense MinisterYoav Gallant, "France does not stand by Israel against attacks and murders by Hamas." He stated that Israel is not ready for France to participate in the attempts to reach a settlement between Israel and Hezbollah.[39]
In a conference on 5 October 2024, Macron said that he had stopped the flow of French weaponry to Israel and encouraged other leaders to join his arms embargo. Netanyahu said that Macron's call was a disgrace.[5][6][7]
In November 2024, France argued that theInternational Criminal Court's (ICC)arrest warrants for Israeli leaders are not valid because Israel is not a member of the ICC.[40]
In May 2025, France, along with Britain and Canada, issued a joint statement condemning Israel's "egregious" actions in Gaza. They warned of the possibility of "further concrete actions" if Israel continued its military offensive and failed to lift restrictions on humanitarian aid.[41]
Following Macron's decision to recognize the state of Palestine,Charles Kushner, the US Jewish ambassador to France, said Macron's commitment had exacerbated anti-Semitic incidents in France.[42]
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France's cultural, technological and scientific cooperation with Israel is based on bilateral agreements that date back to 1959.
In June 2007 a new French Institute opened inTel Aviv. In honor of Israel's 60th anniversary of its independence, Israel was the official guest at the annual Book Fair in Paris in March 2008.
Since 2004, network research programs have been launched in medicalgenetics,mathematics,medical andbiologicalimaging, as well asbioinformatics, with nearly 100 researchers involved in each. New programs are expected to be introduced in the areas ofgenomics,cancer research,neuroscience,astrophysics androbotics.
As part of the French culinary festival "So French, So Good," 12 respected French chefs visited Israel in February 2013 to work with Israeli chefs and hold master classes.[43]
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The Israelis continued to rely on their French military arms supplier until the 1960s, when Charles de Gaulle came to power. De Gaulle made peace with the Arabs and gave up the French claim to Algeria. DeGaulle then began to mend fences with the Arabs and the first victim of this new reality was the French-Israel connection.
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